Vaccine Hesitancy Is Complicating Physicians’ Obligation to Respect Patient Autonomy During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Author: Dr. Ryan Liu.
Source: Volume 23, Number 03, Summer 2022 , pp.53-53(1)
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Abstract:
When a patient refuses to be vaccinated, a health care worker usually gets involved to counsel that patient. This may take a considerable amount of time, and unfortunately, the results may not always be favorable. Written by a medical resident with an interest in bioethics, this article examines the view that many in the medical community have that the onus is on the patient to get vaccinated, and if they do not do so, they should be seen as culpable for contracting COVID-19. One such example is the case being made to give lower priority for organ transplants to those willfully unvaccinated.Keywords: Ethics of Vaccine Hesitancy; Patient Autonomy
Affiliations:
1: St. Georges University School of Medicine.